18 | JANUARY 7 • 2021 

W

hen 13-year-old 
Sydney Hertzberg 
adopted Mr. 
Mittens in 2019, the tiny bot-
tle-fed kitten needed much 
TLC. He was just 4 days old, 
and when the Birmingham 
teen first laid eyes on him 
at the no-kill Ferndale Cat 
Shelter, where she had been 
volunteering for her bat 
mitzvah project with Temple 
Israel, she knew it was love at 
first sight.
“He’s grown so much,” 
the Cranbrook Kingswood 
Girls Middle School student 
says. Yet Mr. Mittens wasn’t 
the only one who was being 
helped. Hertzberg, who has 
postural orthostatic tachy-
cardia syndrome, or POTS, 
a connective tissue disorder, 
experiences significant pain 

from the condition. Mr. 
Mittens, however, was the best 
medicine for it.
Hertzberg wrote about her 
love for Mr. Mittens for Petco 
Foundation’s Holiday Wishes 
Grant Competition, which 
helps support animal rescue 
organizations nationwide. She 
spoke of what she has over-
come in her life and how the 
kitten rescued her instead.
“Little did I know today 
would be the day that would 
change my life forever and fill 
a void in my heart that I never 
knew existed,” she wrote in 
the 500-word story of the day 
she met Mr. Mittens. “As we 
spent more time together, I 
realized that when I held Mr. 
Mittens or he jumped on my 
shoulder, it helped relieve my 
pain.”

It turned out to be a 
winning entry for Petco 
Foundation. Hertzberg, who 
received second place in the 
competition, was awarded a 
$50,000 grant that she gave 
to Ferndale Cat Shelter, an 
organization she felt strongly 
about. “I honestly couldn’t 
believe it,” she says. “I thought 
it would be something much 
smaller, maybe $1,000.”
For Ferndale Cat Shelter, 
who needed the extra sup-
port due to COVID-19, it 
was the greatest holiday gift 
they could ask for. “Ferndale 
Cat Shelter is over-the-moon 
about this grant from Petco,” 
executive director Deanne 
Iovan explains. “This year, we 
have taken in twice as many 
cats and kittens as we did last 
year, and our vet bills were 
double.”
Ferndale Cat Shelter’s 
revenue was also cut in half 
because their Catfé Lounge, 
where guests can mingle with 
cats up for adoption, was 
closed for nearly six months. 
“This could not have come at 
a better time,” says Iovan, who 
has included Hertzberg in 
planning how the funding will 
be used. “After such a diffi-
cult year for everyone, this 
is a great way to end 2020.”
Yet Hertzberg’s mission 
to save cats doesn’t end 
there. She’s working on 
ways for younger people 
like herself to be more 
active in the animal volun-
teer community. Her goal is 
to launch a program called 
“Sydney Seniors,” where 
senior adults will be able 
to adopt a senior cat with 
expenses such as medical 
bills and food being taken 
care of.
In this idea, she envisions 
teens being able to help 
senior adults set up their 
home for their adopted cats. 
Additionally, throughout 
the COVID-19 pandemic, 

Hertzberg took in 19 foster 
kittens from Ferndale Cat 
Shelter between the begin-
ning of April through now, 
finding forever homes for 
each and every one. “I decid-
ed it was more important to 
help the cats than be nervous 
about my medical issues,” she 
explains.
Hertzberg is also teaching a 
Girl Scouts troop how to cre-
ate covers for a Trap, Neuter, 
Release program, which aims 
to prevent future populations 
of feral cats in Michigan. 
“Sydney is wise way beyond 
her years,” Iovan says of the 
teen’s work. “When Sydney 
first sent her story to Petco, 
her mother, Julie, showed me 
a copy and it brought tears to 
my eyes.
 “I knew Sydney was a spe-
cial human being, but her 
story of how Mr. Mittens 
affected her and her daily life 
was beautiful to read,” she 
continues. “It’s stories like 
hers that keep me going to 
work every day.” 

Read Sydney’s winning story at petco-

foundation.org/love-story/cats-adven-

turous-spirit-is-the-best-remedy.

Teen wins $50,000 grant for 
animal shelter.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Furever Homes

IN 
THED
JEWS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JULIE HERTZBERG

Sydney Hertzberg 
and Mr. Mittens

